Little Ray of Sunshine

Ohio

She smiled fondly at the sleeping child in the back seat. It had been a long trip to make with a five year old, but, thankfully, her niece had been sleeping most of the time, only waking up when she had made a stop to rest for a little bit.

It could have been way shorter if they would have traveled by plane, but she was terrified at the idea of someone finding out about her job, her past, and having the little girl get taken away from her.

She looked over the house her parents were renting for the time they would stay in Ohio, feeling nervous about how her niece was going to react.

She had managed to introduce them a few days ago during a video call, hoping it would help before finally meeting them in person. It did not go as she thought it would be. Little Yelena had hidden her face shyly in Barton's shoulder, only answering when she would talk to her, but avoiding Melina's or Alexei's questions. Honestly, she was pretty sure her sister had not talked about them to the little girl.

She got out of the car as the front door of the house was opened, Melina standing there with a smile, but she focused on the dog that was sprinting towards her.

"Hi, I missed you" she scratched behind Fanny's ears, her dog wiggling her tail happily. "Sit. Wait" she commanded, trying to open the car's back door to get her niece.

The little girl stirred the moment she took the seat belt off, her bright blue eyes opening to look at her with pure confusion.

"It's okay, malyshka" She caressed the kid's cheek. "Let's put your shoes on, huh?" she reached out for the child's sneakers, which were tucked under the front seat. "Alright. Come on, look who's here" she picked her up, her little namesake still waking up, keeping the pink pony close to her tiny face.

However, it did not take the little girl long to spot the dog that was sitting by her side, wide eyes staring at her before looking back at the puppy.

"Fanny!" the five year old exclaimed, getting Fanny to bark back in response.

Her niece had been asking about meeting Fanny for a long time, always asking for pictures or videos of the dog, so it did not take her by surprise how excited the child was.

She smiled widely at the little girl petting Fanny's fur, who licked the kid's face before barking again.

"I think Fanny likes you, isn't that right?" she said at her dog while gently stroking her fur.

"I know. I like her too" the kid answered in between giggles.

She laughed at that, her gaze meeting Melina, who was just observing the whole scene without participating, but with a smile on her face.

"Can we take Fanny for a walk?" her niece asked. "Kate lets me take Lucky for a walk when she comes to visit" the child commented as she frowned slightly.

"Oh, then we have to take Fanny to a lot of walks while you're here" she told her. "And maybe I can show you some cool tricks you can teach Lucky next time" she added.

"Yes! Can we do it now?" the kid asked.

"Later, okay?" she answered, taking the child's hand to walk to the house. "Come on, Fanny" she called her dog.

She noticed how the little girl looked down the moment they were in front of Melina, her tiny hand gripping tightly to hers, so she crouched to her height in an attempt to bring her some comfort.

"It's okay" she whispered, gently brushing her niece's blonde hair away from her tiny face. "Do you remember I told you we were going to meet my Mama and Papa?" she asked her, her hand resting on the little one's left cheek, trying to make sure that the child was looking at her. "And you met them the other day on the phone, right?" she waited until the kid nodded slightly to continue. "Okay. She's my Mama Melina" she pointed to her, the five year old finally staring at the woman in front of them.